The Girlhood
by Madoka C.C
Summary: It is love story that is inspired by fangirl.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
When she hitched her green backup onto her shoulder, nobody noticed the weird pair of sandals with the dragon's wings on the sides. The girl wore a pair of square black glasses on her flat nose. Her face was small and her jaw was pointed. Brown straight hair poured down until the middle of her back. She wore blue jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt that said "Keep Calm and Write more". The hall way was full of freshmen and some sophomores who stank of sweat from playing basketball outside.  
And she struggled really hard to push through the crowd without stepping on people's feet especially the popular girls who sat cross legged on the floor and blocked mindlessly the way of Isabella. Yes, she was Isabella, the ghost girl.  
It was uncomfortable after all. People weren't unkind. They were just busy and couldn't have some time to give you the way. Isabella exhaled a long breath and then finally reached her locker, which was near the end of the hallway.  
Staring blankly at her locker, Isabella sighed. Her stomach was growling because she hadn't had any breakfast yet. When her uncle dropped at the school, she forgot to ask him for money to buy some egg sandwich at the school's cafeteria. So now she opened her locker and rummaged through piles of books and utensils and other useless papers, wishing a Hershey's chocolate bar would appear magically.  
But it didn't.  
Isabella sat down against the wall. She slid open her bag and took out her computer. Recently she just started a fiction about a mage and his werewolves friends. Her fingers typed out the words like water running out of the tap. It was not drowning her mind but it was like releasing part of herself into this silent world. That is the magical thing about writing because you can really concentrate and get away from the current situation.  
"Hey, what are you doing?"  
"Just writing."  
Isabella answered curtly to the person who asked that question. Thomas Lee was weirdly friendly to her, always trying to make her get into the conversation. He had deep blues and really thin lips. His bang was long, sweeping the left side of his face. He smelled like soap in the morning. Isabella flushed inwardly when she was thinking about these details. Instead of turning her head to him, she just kept flying her fingers on the keyboard. Thomas frowned.  
Yes, he actually frowns a lot if you ever notice. And that was why on his forehead there were three lines near his hairline. They made him look a little older and a little more curious.  
"How is your weekend?" He asked.  
"Not bad. And you?"  
She hated small talks. They made her so self-conscious. But smalls talks seemed like a must for a normal social conversation. If that so, she would rather not talk forever to people. Thomas was a different case though. He was her cousin and they saw each other the weekend before the last one over Sunday lunch. They had been close since elementary school. He knew her quiet personality and was not offended by her outward coldness as often as the other people in her class. They called her the "icy queen".  
"Come on, let's get off that computer." He snapped close her laptop. She made a furious look at him. What is he thinking?  
"Don't get mad." He didn't sound apologetic at all.  
"I am not mad." She explained her frustration, "I just don't understand why you are so annoying."  
"You should talk to people more. You are friendless." His voice was sympathetic, " if you try that, you will find out they are quite interesting."  
"That's a lie."  
"It is not."  
"They are boring."  
"Some of them are not."  
"I do not feel like talking to them."  
"Are you misthanropic?"  
"That's a stupid question: you have known me for years."  
"But why do you tolerate me?"  
Because—the words stuck in her throat like a swarm of people struggling to escape from the burning build at the exit. She had so many reasons in her mind and she couldn't organize them in a logical way to say. Glancing at Thomas's thoughtful profile, she thought she might have better off saying stupid to get over with this dumb question.  
"You are my family." She told him, "I don't hate my family." That was not the answer he wanted to hear. She could tell that from his pouted mouth and locked eyebrows.  
"It's like…there is a wall between you and the rest of the world." Thomas said to her, " and I always want to break that wall. I care about you, Isabella."  
Why do you care? She wanted to shout at him. But no. She could not bring her to doing that. It was rude.  
"Meet me at the lunch." A girl passed by them, flashing a smile at Thomas.  
"Sure." Thomas smiled back.  
Ugh. So that was his new girlfriend. Isabella rolled her eyes and snorted. "I think you should spend more time with your girlfriend."  
Thomas looked confused. He brushed from the middle of his hair to the back with his fingers and made back again. "She is not my girlfriend. We are just Spanish partners."  
"Seriously? She looks interested in you." Isabella answered flatly.  
"Are you jealous or something?" he suddenly beamed widely, as if discovering a treasure.  
Isabella rolled her eyes again. "No." she said quickly, "I don't see why I should be jealous. You are my family after all. And family is always special for me."  
"Family. Family. Family." He sounded uncharacteristically annoyed, " I sincerely wish you were not my family." Boy, that's really mean.  
"What's wrong with family? Are you ashamed that one unpopular girl like me is your family?"  
"Not that. It is just your whole family talk make me feel sick."  
"Sorry. I promise I won't talk about that again."  
He shook his head. "It's okay." He grumbled and looked away, " see you later."  
"See ya."  
They were both late for classes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
It was hard for her to not like Miss Cather Avery, who taught juniors English. Miss Avery wore a casual long shirt over her butt and a pair of old blue jeans. Her face was clean and fresh, no makeup. Every word from her was soft and gentle like a cat "purring" lazily in the afternoon. Miss Avery was engaged with her boyfriend, Levi last month. When Isabella found out about Miss Avery's engagement, she started crying and felt a grudge toward her fiancé though she never had met him. Now Miss Avery did not belong to everybody anymore, she was forever stolen by the unknown stranger named Levi.  
Because of her rare talent for writing, Miss Avery and Isabella had been very close. On some level it was not exaggerating that Miss Avery was a mother figure to Isabella. Her uncle was single and her mother had died when she was very young. Through Miss Avery Isabella was able to explore the fictional world with the most freedom and imagination. Every now and then Miss Avery would give Isabella a new novel for her to read—every time the genre was different—"it is important for you to experience different writing styles and contents to develop your literary knowledge, crucial to your independent writing later on" Miss Avery winked her eyes at Isabella. That was another great thing about Miss Avery. If others wink at her, she probably would think that person disgusting or weird and feel extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. But Miss Avery does it so naturally and unaffectedly and it was just like opening a bag of candy and the pleasure rolling out of them like chocolate bites, sweet and encouraging. So naturally she would hate to disappoint Miss Avery like running late or not turning any homework.  
When the bell rang right before she stepped into the classroom, a horrible feeling passed through her heart. The air froze with the gravest atmosphere and everybody's eye was on her and silently accusing her of her lateness. Miss Avery put up her glasses on her nose and then smiled at Isabella. Today she wore her hair up into a bun different from her usual ponytail.  
"I am sorry— "  
"No, it's okay. Just go and sit down."  
"Okay." Face flushed, she walked to the very back of the classroom and sat down before Simon Snow.  
"Hello, Isabella." Simon Snow whispered into her ears—always so close! She frowned her forehead and then said: "Hello."


	3. Chapter 2b

"Ew." Isabella covered her mouth, wishing that she didn't say it. They were all looking at her. Her face was burning, flaying layers of her skin off. No, she didn't want to say that about math. Math was fun. She loved it. But everybody hated it. It seemed cooler if she had just followed along. Wait a minute—why was she trying to please those damn fools who had nothing in common with except other than the face they are both mammals?  
"Yeah. That's right. I hate math." She heard herself talking, "I don't know why we have to take that class."  
Erin grinned. "Ah, you thought so too? Because you are good at math I think for a moment that you might be the only one who likes it."  
It was probably the truth.  
Isabella stared at this enclosed friend group before her catatonically. Did she eat something wrong for lunch? Her stomach was sick. The girls giggled and pushed each other teasingly: they seemed so engrossed in their activity like nothing else matters anymore. Like her right now.  
Yeah. She secretly gripped her hands. An intensity of pain rose up in her body. But that's okay. Haven't I already learned enough about them? She turned around and walked out of the classroom.  
Miss Avery called out to her in the hallway. "Isabella! I need you in the office." her long, curly brown hair was flying.  
"Sit down."  
Isabella installed herself onto a cushioned chair near Miss Avery. "Did you let Emily copy your homework" In her hands, there were Isabella's essay of Catcher in the Rye and Emily Gwen's too.  
No. Isabella shook her head. She was never close to Emily. But she was happy for the fact that Miss Avery didn't suspect the originality of her own essay.  
It was not hard to figure out who was the criminal.  
Under the stern stare of Miss Avery, Isabella hesitated to spit out the name of the culprit. Was she going to report to the honor council? She didn't care a shit about Emily Gwen. But she didn't want to ruin Thomas's reputation. Emily was Thomas's girlfriend. Emily must have made him steal her essay.  
"I am not disappointed." Miss Avery said to Isabella like a friend, "I am just troubled that she is using yours. I mean that's just obvious. I can tell it is yours from the glance of the first sentence of the opening." Even though she was not commenting Isabella, even though this was not the appropriate time to feel happy, a smile was still managing spilling out of Isabella's face. The smile widened and deepened.  
"But you don't need to tell me who the culprit is though. I will just give her a zero. And next time—make sure you keep your things close." Miss Avery took off her glasses. She was super charming when not wearing glasses.  
"Thanks for coming." Miss Avery winked at her.  
I feel so elated. Isabella closed the door softly. Her mind kept going back to Miss Avery's wink. So pretty..and so flirtish. Flirt! Ahhhhhh…why would her heart not stop throbbing?


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
Ugly things happen when you get carried away. Thomas leaned against the wall, hunched over his toes. A girl was sobbing before him. A huge fight.  
"It does not matter." Emily said.  
"You can not steal her thing like that. It is dishonest."  
"I don't care."  
"Why her?" he was frustrated and confused. This was not the first time they quarreled over Isabella.  
Emily pouted. "You like her." She finally said.  
A burst of wind blew over, shuffling brown dry leaves on the concrete ground. Thomas was dead silent. His face was half covered by his long hair.  
But she is like my cousin and you know it.  
"You don't hate me. But you don't like me enough. Not as much as you do Isabella. Are you really cousins? I mean you are always together. Going to school together, going to lunch together, going home together…it is like everywhere you are together. I feel so jealous. I can't help it."  
"I promise I will stop talking to her and being with her now."  
"It does not matter. Your heart belongs to her."  
"I love you."  
"I don't know anymore." Her shoulder sank down and her head drooped listlessly. I love you, too. But loving you is exhausting.  
"Simon confessed to me yesterday after school." Her arms wrapped around her head and her muffled voice sounded hollow and surreal. She buried her head into her chest, smelling the scent of cherry shampoo left on her silky hair.  
For a moment he thought he was gonna turn into a werewolf (in face he was but he didn't know it) and gobble that damn philanderer Simon down. He took a deep breath and forced a meek smile. "Oh yea? Did you say yes?"  
"Thomas!"  
Her voice was shaking.  
"I am sorry."  
He wanted to touch her head, imagining the soft feeling which would immediately comfort him. She dodged his hand and then jerked away from him stiffly like a lifeless doll controlled by an amateur puppeteer. The air felt cold.

"What's up?"  
Isabella scooted over on the sofa and left some space for Thomas. He sighed and then told what happened between him and Emily. Isabella listened quietly like a docile cat. Her eyes stared past Thomas emptily. He didn't pay attention to her inattention.  
"So the next day I punched Simon." He shrugged and poked at cut on his face, "Ouch. I never thought Simon could fight like that." Then naturally he glanced at Isabella and found that she was just spacing out.  
"Hey!" he was a little annoyed. "What are you looking at? I didn't ask you to come here to just space out."  
"Break up with her. You will be fine. There are plenty girls who will be fawning over you." Then she yawned and stretched. It is the same old Thomas-Emily drama anyway.  
"Please. I am serious."  
"I am serious, too." She gritted the word "too" with such force. "And really I don't think you like Emily."  
"I don't like you, either." He said quickly.  
She scowled: "That is not important." Then she blushed a little. "How about Blair? She seemed nice. You can start going out with her."  
Thomas fell silent.  
She knew it. "So you have not broken up with her." Thomas shook his head but then nodded.  
I see. Isabella rested her chin on her palm thoughtfully.  
"I think I know what to do now for you and your dear girlfriend's sake…"  
Thomas looked up with surprise, meeting Isabella's apathetic eyes. She is always so cold…  
"Okay, I have decided. I will transfer next year to another school." 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Watching Isabella's nape of the neck titillated Simon. The skin was smooth and creamy. Several strands of hairs fell from her high held pony tail laid docilely on her neck. He suddenly felt hungry for a delicious apple pie. But she was not pretty at all. Forcefully he turned his head and tried to focus on the lecture. Yet, the pleasant smell of vanilla lingered and kept luring his eyes back to Isabella's neck.  
That was disgusting of him. He checked his desire to grab Isabella's thin shoulder and cage her against the wall. Her legs were so long and her waist was tiny. You can see the bones sticking out from under the white uniform she wore everyday. But he had always preferred the plump type.  
"Simon…" Isabella turned around and saw him staring at her angrily, "What's the matter with you?"  
"Nothing." He squeezed a equivocate sound from his throat and walked past her quickly.  
"Weird." She mumbled and followed him.  
Despite Thomas's protest she still transferred to the Rock Alley High School as a junior. Three months later, Simon was here as well because his father changed his job. She was quite happy to see somebody familiar. But Simon had not acted so friendly. For example, when she wore a white floral dress to school, he disparaged her appearance by pointing out the flatness of her chest. "Is that your rib?" he elbowed against her chest, "are you still a child?"  
She was so embarrassed! Some girls giggled while other guys just watched. Why was he targeting her chest anyway? It was not her fault that her boobs were not naturally big as Emily or…hugging herself crest-fallen. I am just going to ignore him from now on.


	6. Chapter 4b

Lunch break.

The cafeteria was crowded and busy. The smell of food was pretty comforting. Isabella took a batch of mashed potatoes and a cup of greens and walked past the hallways. She preferred eating quietly outside.

She pushed open the door and sauntered to a wooden chair before the backdoor to the middle school's hallway. There were plenty bushes and tress which concealed her from the view. Everybody was in the cafeteria or in the hallways so she could enjoy her meal to the fullest.

But—why was he here?

Simon strode to her arrogantly. "What are you doing here?" Isabella's face looked troubled. Now he had taken the other half of the seat should she sit down with him as well? Wouldn't that make them look like they were dating? And by the way, did he install a detector on her? How come he could always find her even though she tried her best to conceal her whereabouts? Anger arose in her body and burned her face quite wildly. Simon crossed his leg and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. He didn't have a lighter with him.

A flame was lit on his middle finger magically. He lit the cigarette and held it in his mouth.

"You can not smoke at the school." Isabella said stiffly.

"Nobody will find out." He said to her.

"I will tell Miss. Rice about it."

"Like hell she will believe it."

His defiant attitude annoyed her greatly. She folded her hand into a fist and cursed him silently. Yes, Simon was always the honor student—a favorite of favorites among teachers. Nobody would believe her because Simon was too good and too angelic in front of everybody else.

So why not in front of her as well?

Gingerly Isabella took the seat and scooted over as much as possible to the edge of the chair in order to not touch Simon. Her lunch tray on her lap. It was getting cold. So she couldn't wait to dig into it.

A soft chuckle.

 _Fuck._ Isabella glanced at Simon who jibed at her. "Say it."

"You got a piece of cabbage leave stuck in your teeth, ugly woman." He drew a deep breath.

 _That was embarrassing._ Isabellea's defiant spirit was a little subdued and she ate quietly and slowly, one bite after another bite, with her fork and knife of course. A lot of people stopped using utensils lately…but she would never succumb to the trend even though it might be easier to eat with hands.

 _Savage._

"Savage." Simon croaked and held the cigar with his hands, "I don't like watching them eat. It made me think of dogs."

 _Yeah, I agree!_

"Why are you so quiet?" Simon said to her, "you don't yell and shout at me as usual."

"I never yell at anybody." She retorted back.

"Guess I am not a body."

"What?"

"Never mind."

 _Weirdo._ Putting a fork of mashed potatoes into her mouth—the rich taste of potatoes and butter and milk was so intense and meltingly good—she could not help giving out a small sigh. _Why he never eats lunch? Is that why he is so thin?_ A curiosity about Simon's taste in food caused Isabella to ask him: "Why do you never eat lunch?"

Simon was a little surprised. "Lunch?" he seemed to forget about his mean attitude, "They don't have what I enjoy."

"But the mashed potatoes is pretty good."

"Let me try it."

"Ah?"

Simon grumbled. Then he impatiently seized Isabella's fork and took a forkful of mashed potatoes and ate it. Simon's face turned a bit reddish.

 _He is eating her food from her freaking fork!_

Isabella didn't dare to look at Simon. But if she did, Simon probably would have erase her memory with a spell. He himself was a little embarrassed from what he just did. That was such an intimate act…as if they were a couple. But how come he would fall in love with that idiot?

The most important thing was…he pretended not to notice the daisy necklace Isabella wore on her neck. The diamond that is engraved in the daisy flower sparkled dazzlingly even though the sun was out. Simon recognized this was perhaps a Kimberly Diamond, found in 1871.

That diamond was brilliantly cut, which consisted of 57 facets. It was brilliant and contained immense ancient magic. Just right now, he could sense the ebbs and flows of magic power stirring up his blood. It disturbed his mind like the electricity disturbing the magnet. His body was a like small vessel, sailing helplessly on the roaring sea. The seal which suppresses him to reveal his vampire identity was slowly wearing off by the powerful magic from that daisy necklace.

Simon licked his tongue thirstily. Where did she acquire that magical object? Normal beings can not endure the invisible mental pressure that magic imposes. Was she also a magical creature?


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What's that boy?" her Uncle picked her up from the school. They walked home. Her uncle didn't have a car. Besides he was opposed to "modern technology". "They are the evils who make humans lazier and lazier." he commented after observing a really heavy lady having trouble getting off the car. "You should walk more and eat less." He looked at Isabella's chubby face disapprovingly, "you are getting fat." Every time Uncle scolds her, she feels kind of down. But he never tells her to stop eating anything. "Food is good for you," her uncle told her, "even sugar is good for your body. It fuels your thinking. But only in moderation. You have to be considerate with your belly."

"So what's the deal with that boy?"

"Which one?"

"The one that you were talking to."

"That is Simon Snow. He is from my old school."

"Don't be too close to him."

"Why?"

"Because he seems kind of dumb. You know stupidity can be really epidemic."

She laughed at his joke.

"No. I think you are right. It's not a good idea to go near him." She smiled with relief.

"Keep your necklace inside your shirt. You can not let anyone see it. Especially that Snow boy."

"But he already sees it."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. He just stares at it really really hard." Now she recalled that scene, it was more than just hard. He looked almost greedy. What a creep! Does he have obsession with jewelry likes girls do? Could he be a gay? Now that she had any problem with that—it was just that she wished he could be a little kinder to her…maybe that was because he didn't like girls.

"Hmm." Her uncle stroke his jaw thoughtfully. The worried look made Isabella a little unnerved. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"I think he wants to steal it." After a long silence, Uncle finally spoke, "that daisy necklace contains a treasure which many people are pursuing."

"Magic."

"Yes. That's right."

"Uncle, were my parents both magicians?"

"I am sorry but I don't really know about your parents."

"Were you separated from mother when you were little?" she asked, "is that why you couldn't remember a thing about her?"

Avoiding her eyes, he sighed. "Yes—now what's for dinner?"

"Cabbage and mashed potatoes."

Sure. Cabbage and mashed potatoes sound really delicious right now. Putting the key into the hole, Uncle clicked the door open. Maybe he should come up with a better lie…this girl was surely getting smarter everyday. Unnoticed, Uncle threw a troubled look that was dark like a hole in the universe at Isabella's back.

Ah. What a pain in the ass.


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Simon was surprised to see a man in a black suit and a baseball hat lean against the school's gate. That man gave off a special scent—the smell of magic. His left hand gripped the hidden wand in his pocket even closer, ready to attack.

But when he passed that man, nothing happened but only a grumbling sounded very faintly.

"Jesus, baby. I do nothing wrong." Simon looked up to see the man's face—old dark skin, full of wrinkle and a big fat nose. The man was groaning incessantly like he was so much in pain or he was so much in joy _(like he was masturbating)_

Simon looked away distastefully.

"Hey, boy." The man grabbed his wrist.

Simon shook uncontrollably. "Get off me, you drunkard."

"Are you american?" his accent was foreign, "Are you a freaking american baby?"

"Get off me." A ring of fire snapped out of the air. The man didn't seem to care. If he was a magician, then he should be able to put off the fire easily.

"Atar." The man mumbled.

 _What the fuck._ A huge tongue of fire was licking all over the man's body right now. Not only he was not afraid but was enjoying it. "So warm." His hands in the air as if groping something really hard.

 _A Mad Man._

Simon shot water from his wand. The fire slowly deceased.

"Oh, boy." The man grumbled again. Not a scratch on his body. "Thank you, ugh." A burst of power stench of alcohol struck under Simon's noble nose—he frowned.

"You are welcome."

He stiffly walked away.

"Hey boy!" The man chased after him.

"What the fuck— "

The man was smiling at Simon. "Avoid that girl with the daisy necklace. She is not something you should mess around. That girl brings trouble."

"How do you know— "

"Because I am that girl's father. I created her. Out of this magical stone." The man took out a diamond out of his ragged jacket.

"What is her exactly?"

"The ultimate container of the most formidable volume of magic." The man squinted his eyes and winked, "A dangerous sorcerer."

Simon's heart pounded very hard. He could almost hear himself breathing like a ruthless buffalo. His tongue was sticky like the chocolate frosting his grandma made the other day. _Fuck._

"That's not possible."

"Yes—her memories are not back yet."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"To make things more interesting."

"What do you mean?" Didn't he just tell him to avoid her?

"You are much dumber than I thought."

"So tell me."

"You have to figure out yourself. Damn, you are ruining the fun part."

Simon cursed a fire of hell at the man. The man laughed. He lazily raised his index finger at Simon. "Pereo." The fire was gone instantly.

"I am St. Cyprian." The wind pressed his jacket around his legs and he was slowly disappearing, "Nice meeting you, Simon Snow."


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The whipping started right after the dusk. A dark shade on the craggy rock, swinging back and forth with a long whip, lashed on another shade, only darker. Intermittent shrieks echoed in the cave.

A house-elf was all naked. Hands tied together. His back was bleeding. It was almost too cruel to watch—No words, nor tears and no prayers seemed to relax the intensity of the lashing; where the blood ran the longest, there it was whipped the longest. A grave punishment for the house-elf.

Zack kicked the away the house-elf. He walked out of the cave and breathed.

"Hello, Good morning!" Zack turned to St. Cyprian who appeared out of a bell flower.

"Another house-elf?" St. Cyprian peeked into the cave for a glance on the gory victim. He furled his nose at the bloody sight. "Can't believe you have to do this everyday."

"It is not so bad." Zack took out a lighter and lit up a cigarette, "Besides the feeling is just magical."

"I am disgusted." St. Cyprian said. Zack was an evil vampire who strengthened his power through eating house-elf. The whipping was just the appetizer—just to keep this game of feast more fun. The house-elf's gaunt chest rose up and down meekly. It was in great pain and could have died in just twenty minutes. He reverted his eyes and decided to ignore that house-elf even though what Zack did was wrong and violating the thirty seventh amendment of the magical constitution, which protects house-elf from the subjection to violence.

Watching this writhing and gory object on the floor, St. Cyprian almost impulsively jinxed it to immediate death.

"I have some errand that you need to carry out." Zack told St. Cyprian, "Take this house-elf to that girl."

"What are you planning?"

"Remember that Simon boy? We had better use him well."

"He is not stupid."

"That's why we need that girl."

"In order to construct the stone of life, we need both the talent of that boy as the last heir of the oldest sorcerer family and the enormous magic from that girl's daisy necklace. St. Cyprian, Aeternum!" he made a coarse and low sound of cheer at the end.

"Aeternum…"

Isabella bumped into Ann Tian. She was an Asian kid from class-2. "Sorry." Ann murmured to Isabella and then quickly ran off. Isabella frowned at her flying back—why did she hurry? Curiosity led her to follow Ann.

Ann disappeared into the next hallway.

Where could she be? Isabella looked about. A small tug at her the bottom of her pants. "are you princess Isabella?" A puny shaky voice whispered into her ear.

"What?" Isabella was startled and jumped backward. A tiny, tiny, thumb-sized blondie with wings on her back was talking to her. _What the fuck?_

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I am the seventeenth servant of the ancient noble family of Catherines. My name is Orla _(golden Queen)._ " She bowed in the air professionally. "It is a great honor for me to serve you, my seventeenth mistress." Streams of golden silky hairs flew off her shoulder, dangling in the air and shining brightly. Isabella had immediately liked this little girl who claimed to be her servant.

 _Wait. A fairy Servant? And wings?_

"Princess Isabella, are you looking for that rude peasant?" Orla lowered her delicate head to Isabella, "do you need Orla to punish that impudent girl for offending you highness?"

 _Maybe she can be useful._

"Tell me where she went. Take me there." A tone of authority came out of her mouth naturally as if her body had been waiting for this day to arrive for long.

"With greatest pleasure." Orla bowed again.

So there they were. It was Dr. Kasper's history class room. "Can you hide me from them?" She didn't know why she used plural since Ann was the only one in the room. "Yes, your highness." Orla snapped her finger. _Does she not need a spell or some sort of ritual to perform magic?_ "We fairy don't do magic like magician or sorceres." Orla explained, "the magic is us and we are magic. Your highness's daisy necklace was forged by our greatest magical smith in my fairy kingdom on request of Lady Catherine."

 _Fuck. Can she read my mind?_ Isabella nodded and pretended being nonchalant. _But who is Lady Catherine?_

"Lady Catherine is our savior and heroine to all fairys. It is always a great pleasure to be able to express our gratitude through our service to the next heir of Catherine family…"

"shoo. There comes Mr. Kasper."

"Ann?" Mr. Kasper looked surprised to see Anne in his room alone. She didn't bring any homework. But her face looked troubled. Almost unwittingly he asked: "what is wrong?"

Drops and drops of tears fell on Ann's face. The moment of weakness disrupted Mr. Kasper's usual equanimity. He stepped closer to Ann.

They were too close.

She could feel this coarse, trembling breath coming from him.

But they were always too far. Too far from her. Too far from him. They were like the separated baby dogs, yearning uselessly for reunion.

"I missed you."

The expression he had was electrifyingly terrified. He leapt away from her like avoiding the poison. "You can't say that. I am your teacher. Besides," he paused, "you see me everyday in the hallway."

Ann was dead silent.

 _What a cruel man._ Isabella sympathized greatly with Ann. Mr. Kasper had taught them third year the junior US history. Ann was unusually talented, especially in US history. She had always been a favorite of witty, and intellectual Mr. Kasper. But nobody suspected other than the normal teacher-student relationship. Maybe He paid a little too much attention to Ann and showed a little bit more affection for her than others. But no matter how you look at it they were acting just super normal.

Besides, Mr. Kasper was married and had two daughters. He was forty-seven-year old; Ann was only seventeen.

Nobody had suspected.

"humans are so weird. Why could not he just be frantic about his feelings? Why could not he allow himself to admit his love for that peasant?" Orla said out loud.

"Shhhhhhh." Isabella covered her mouth nervously, "they will hear us!"

"Nah. They can't. Normal humans can not see me or hear me. My existence is zero to them." Orla said proudly, "but Princess Isabella is the heir of the great Catherine family which is the oldest family of sorcerers."

Isabella blushed. _Okay, I will let you go this time._

"Look, Princess! They kissed!"

Ann lifted her heels and pressed her lips on Mr. Kasper. He didn't refuse her at first. Rather his arms surrounded Ann's tiny waist tightly. It was a quiet kiss—no slurping—but violent and passionate. Ann's face grew paler and paler, tears rushing off the redness on her cheek.

It was hard to tell whether she was happy or tormented.

"What a lecherous man." Orla lying down while floating in the air, commented casually. Isabella flushed from head to toe. Yeah, it was a little hard for her to watch-Mr. kasper hand slipped into Ann's uniform and grabbed her breast and squeezed. Ann sighed greatly. Then he stopped. _What! Why the fuck he stopped?_

Of course Ann was confused. "We can't do this anymore." He carefully buttoned up Ann's shirt, "Go home. Both of us need to calm down."

Ann pouted and was motionless. "Go." This time he sounded forceful but very gentle.

"I am too ugly. Maybe he thinks I am not hot."

After that witness, Isabella confessed to Ann what she had seen one day after school. To her surprise, Ann was not flustered but only indifferent. "What do you want by telling me this?" her voice was sacarstic.

"No..I just want to let you know that I am sorry." Under Ann's composed gaze, Isabella felt especially guilty for what she had done.

"Are you going to tell anybody?"

Isabella looked up, confused. "No! Of course I am not…do you want me to?"

Ann shook her dark long pony tail lightly.

They went to a park that day. And talked for very very long time. It was mainly Isabella talking though. Ann was exceptional listener. Unlike other girls Isabella had encountered, Ann was mature and funny and reluctant to talk about herself.

Until yesterday did Ann begin to discuss her feelings about Mr. Kasper to Isabella. She was not sure if Ann finally trusted her. But at least it was a good sign that Ann was opening up to her.

"You are intelligent." Isabella said to her, "you are witty and smart. Nobody will dislike you just because you are not as hot as Julia."

"You are painfully honest about that." Ann shot her a half-hearted glance, "But you are right."

A lonely expression on Ann's face.

For one moment, Isabella wanted to tell her that today her bun was exceptionally cute and Mr. Kasper had never kept off his stare on her back today in class. But Ann was often too engrossed in history to notice what he was doing other than teaching. Maybe that is another reason why Mr. Kasper had liked her-a great genius with an extraodinary curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Or truth rather.

"You know, it feels good to kiss him." Ann suddenly said, "I like the taste of his tongue."

"You guys tongue kissed?"

"yeah."

"That's disgusting."

Ann chuckled. Yeah, normally girls would either get mad at her for saying that or blush or laugh harshly to cover their embarrassment. But Ann just chuckled softly, like nothing mattered to her that much.

"I am sorry. I just, just never had that experience before…and I was a little curious and…maybe jealous I guess…"

"I know." Ann said with composure. Her dark brown eyes sparkled.

"Can I ask you why you like him?"

Ann thought for a long time. The elongated period of silence almost rendered Isabella to give up and just say "never mind" to Ann. It was almost grueling to wait for an answer. She really took her time.

"I don't know." Ann started.

 _What the fuck._

"He is old. Much older than me. Thirty years span. He has two kids and a wife. He is not super handsome. He never gives me full point on my essay and always finds faults in my homework. He comments a lot but I can never recognize his writing or get the courage to savor his words. But he cares about his students. I mean, he really is a cool teacher…"

"But I didn't know ask what you think of him as a teacher—"

Ann was sobbing.

"But I like him. I just really like him."

Anne buried her face into her knees.

"Is there anything wrong with that? If being born to this world with freedom, then why could I be with him? Just because he is my teacher and married?"

Isabella stroke Ann's hair softly.

"No." Isabella hugged her softly, comforting her back, "there is nothing wrong with loving somebody. Rather, it is always a beautiful thing."


End file.
